NCIS: The Story Isn't Over
by AlphaZeroZeroOne
Summary: Takes place immedately after Season 10 Finale. After resigning from NCIS, Tony, Ziva and McGee are contacted by a mysterious organisation who offers them a new job, and a chance to save Gibbs life by taking down the CIA. Introduces new main character.
1. Picking Up the Pieces

After handing in their badges to Director Vance, resigning from their jobs to save Gibbs, Tony DiNozzo, Ziva David and Tim McGee headed out of the building their separate ways, having not spoken a word since walked out of Vance's office.

When they arrive back at their separate homes, they each find a small brown jiffy bag waiting in their mail, each with their name written on in thick black sharpie pen. They each open the bag, Tony ripping it open using his fingers, Ziva with a knife and Tim carefully breaking the seal. They empty the contents into their hands. Out of each falls a single object, a Samsung U600 cellphone (not the most modern i know, but stick with me). When they turn it on, they find a single saved voice message waiting. They simultaneously play it. An unidentified male voice plays.

"I know the sacrifice you've just made is great. But there is more to this story than meets the eye. I can help you prove Gibbs innocence in all this, and end this madness before it gets more absurd. But I can't do it alone. I'll need help. If you're interested, follow the instructions on this phone, and bring it with you. I'll be waiting." The message ended. As they hung up, the phone bleeped. A new text message had been unlocked. 'Alley at the West end of 187th Street. 10:30pm. Tonight.'

That night, the clock on a nearby bar read 10:27pm. The street sign read 187th. Ziva walked up the street, and found the only alley. As she walked down the narrow route, she saw another figure leaning in the shadows against a garbage bin. Ziva reached into her lower back for her small pistol, and stealthily approached the figure. Just beyond there the mystery figure stood, the alley widened to a larger area, with another exit to the right, but a general dead end in darkness. Ziva slowly approached it, and when she was ten feet away, she called out. 'Come out of the shadows of I blow your head off!' A familiar voice eminated from the figure. 'Ziva?' 'McGee?' Ziva put her weapons away as the figure moved more into the light. It was Tim. 'What are you doing here?' She questioned. 'I was about to ask you the same thing.' As they looked into each other, another figure rounded the corner from the other entrance to the alley, with a distinctly cocky tone which could only belong to Tony DiNozzo. "My, my, a secret rendezvous in a dark, musky alley. I'm looking at it and I still refuse to accept it." Ziva then aimed her questions at him. "Why are you here DiNozzo?" Tony approached them and came into the light. "I think we all know the answer." He pulled out the phone he received, the others then pulled theirs out, 3 identical phones. "3 phones, 2 messages, 1 rendezvous." Tony summarized. Tim then finished for him. "But who are we meeting with?"

What none of them had noticed was at the far end of the alley, hiding in the shadows of the wide end, the outline of a car could be made out in the faint light which managed to shine down. The car's headlights suddenly powered on on full beam. Blinded by the light, the three started moving towards it until a voice echoed from the car on a loud speaker, the same voice as on the phones.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!" the three stopped, but had their hands up covering their eyes from the blinding light. "ANTHONY DINOZZO JUNIOR, TIMOTHY MCGEE, ZIVA DAVID. PLACE YOUR WEAPONS AND CELLPHONES ON THE GROUND NOW!" Ziva called out. "Tell you who you are." "I GIVE THE ORDERS. WEAPONS AND PHONES, NOW." Facing little choice, the three placed their pistols, and both cellphones in a small group in front of them. Tony made the next move. "What do you want?" "IT'S SIMPLE. ILAN BODNER WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF ELI DAVID'S POLITICAL FRIEND. BUT YOU ALLOWED YOUR SELF TO BELIEVE THAT. AND YOU BECAME PAWNS IN A MUCH LARGER THINK YOU KNOW IT ALL, BUT THIS WAS ONLY THE FIRST MOVE. THERE'S MUCH MORE GOING ON HERE THAN YOU KNOW."

"What are you talking about?" Tim shouted. "THE CIA WERE RESPONSIBLE. THEY KILLED HIM AND USED YOUR REVENGE ESCAPADE AS A COVER. THEY WANTED THIS TO GO AWAY TO NOT INTERFERE WITH THEIR OPERATIONS, AND LET YOU AND AGENT GIBBS TAKE THE FALL. I'M HERE TO CHANGE THAT." Ziva spoke. "What do you want?" "THE TRUTH. I WANNA CLOSE THE BOOK ON THIS STORY, MAKING SURE IT ENDS FOR GOOD. BUT I'M GONNA NEED YOUR HELP. I'M HERE TO OFFER YOU SOMETHING." The three looked at each other. Tony then called out. "Who are you?!"

"SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE BETRAYED BY YOUR OWN. SOMEONE WHO VOWED TO NEVER LET THE VOICE OF THE INNOCENT BE DROWNED OUT IN A LARGER PLAN." The mike ended, and a figure walked in front of the lights right in front of the car, then started walking towards the group. "Someone who aims to bring down the CIA and make them pay for their actions. I work for a private organisation, who have made it its mission goal to bring balance and peace to those without it, to make sure that in the end, every crime is paid for." The figure came into the light, allowing himself to be seen. He was a blonde male with short spiky hair, who didn't appear to be more than in his young twenties. "I'm offering you a job, the chance to get back at those who have done harm, and repair the damage that has been done." He then tossed a wallet at them which tony caught. He opened it to reveal a badge they didn't recognise. Inscribed was an acronym. 'V.S.S.E.' The man spoke up. "My name is Michael Knight the Third. And I am your one chance to save Gibbs life." The three looked at him, and each other. Michael Knight spoke up. "The question now is, where do you wanna start?"


	2. Michael Knight and VSSE

This isn't part of the story. This is a character profile page

**Name:** Michael Knight III

**Birth Name:** unknown

**Alias:** Dozens in multiple countries worldwide

**DOB:** unknown

**Age:** 26 (approx)

**Hair:** short, Fair Blonde (Formerly long, dark black)

**Eyes:** Dark Blue

**History:**

Young Age:

Abandoned in an orphanage after being born, he isn't sure who his true parents are. From the little he was told by the workers there, they were killed by a semi in a drink driving accident and a witness took him from the scene and brought him there. He was raised from an infant to a young age. The staff repeatedly commented on his initiative and rebellious nature. He always started trouble but made sure no-one was hurt so he couldn't be held accountable for injuries. He is listed as escaping twice, however he actually hid very well within the old wall insulation of the facility.

Adoption:

At twelve years old, he was adopted from the orphanarium by Jonathon and Elen Steele. They took him in and started to advance his already exceptional knowledge of martial arts and espionage.

Operation BlueMoon:

In actuality, Jonathon and Elen were a married CIA couple, who are part of a secret CIA operation codenamed 'BlueMoon'. The operation was spearheaded by Doctor Katrina Holloway, and the idea was to follow the ways of Eli David of Mossad, and raise children up to be CIA agents, being that children are more enabling to learn than adults. The aimed outcome is a wave of counter-intelligence trained teenagers who would match, possibly surpass experienced CIA agents in terms of skill and ability. Overall, there were 35 children, male and female, who were raised as part of this operation.

He was raised by Jonathon and Elen as part of this programme, although it wasn't until his 17th birthday that they explained it all to him as part of the programme. By that time, he was mastered multiple martial arts forms, had weapons and vehicle training in multiple forms and was eager to learn more.

At 18, during his first real operation which was a final examination which all 35 children had to undertake, his's method of completion was not what the professional agents had outlined as the 'standard' method, which was also what everyone else did. Whilst several children failed the mission because they were caught or injured, he was the top of his class. He completed the mission at 100/100 rating - 100% success with 0 casualties, civilian or otherwise. As a result, he made an impression on many officials within the agency. Out of the 16 who passed the mission, he received the highest commendation, and went on to receive more experienced and gruelling training in real situations. His training took him on missions all around the globe, several on US Soil.

Delta Force Team Metal:

At 19, he was assigned to be a CIA attaché to a US Army Delta Force team, Metal. His callsign was chosen as 'Shadow'. The other members were team leader Sandman, Grinch, Truck, Ozone, Havok, Apoc, and Swift. Shadow may have been young compared to the rest of the team, but he quickly became a vital and respected part after saving the teams lives during an ambush. He managed to improvise a smokescreen and explosives from a selection of household supplies at a store by their truck, and the team used it to escape. He quickly grew to be a well liked member of Delta Force, and was frequently given solo operations by Delta commander Lieutenant General Derek Forrest. His operations usually involved other Delta teams providing support from various positions, but they respected him and they knew that if they had to get into a firefight, they'd have the upper hand.

One assignment in particular was challenging, as several CIA agents, both true professionals and other members of BlueMoon had tried and been killed trying to apprehend a terrorist. Once again, Shadow used his unusual skill method to his advantage, with other Delta Teams giving him their support. He managed to apprehend the terrorist where others had failed.

He spend the next few years as a cherished member of Delta Force and an exceptional CIA agent.

Betrayal:

At around 21, after 3 years with Team Metal, things started to fall apart quickly. Unbeknownst to him, new officials at the CIA had shut down BlueMoon, questioning the social and moral ethics of raising children to be killers, as well as some of the operations undertook as part of the programme. Since several took place in America, and the CIA is prohibited from operating on US soil, Dr Holloway, chief trainer Sgt Franklin Benson and Delta Liaison General Forrest decided to wipe out any evidence of the programme before they ended up with bullets in their heads.

Forrest sent Team Metal to a safehouse in the Afghan Mountains, and after infiltration, Ozone finds a computer with information about hundreds of millions of dollars in terrorist accounts. Forrest orders Shadow to remain behind to oversee the download and dispatches the rest of the team to secure an Landing Zone. Whilst waiting for the information, Shadow starts thinking over a letter he got from Rebecca, a fellow BlueMoon operative who had been KIA a few days earlier.

Whilst thinking about this, Forrest and Benson had leaked the teams location to Terrorists in the area and leaked intel on the safehouse. Once the download had been completed, and the intel secured on a hard-drive, They bombed the safehouse with RPG fire and a large explosion. Metal Team watched as the house blew up and ended up fleeing from gunfire, whilst Forrest watched from his office computer, and discretely left. Everyone assumed Shadow had dead.

Survival and V.S.S.E:

However, Shadow had realised the message was about BlueMoons shutdown and Forrest was cleaning house. He managed to secure the drive a few seconds earlier than he told everyone on the radio, giving himself a head start to find cover. He managed to barely survive the explosion. He was found by a Afghan prince in the region and brought back to his palace. After recovering and learning that everyone in the US though him dead, he decided to investigate.

He raided the hideout of the terrorists who attacked him, and found out Forrest, Benson and Holloway had sold him out and tried to have him killed. After stealing all the weapons and equipment from the safehouse, he returned to the palace. The Prince and his wife told him that he may consider this the end, but this may in fact be a second chance. A chance to use the fact he's dead to continue on a crusade for good, and get revenge on those who wronged him.

Using the intel he still hard on the hard drive, he went to an internet cafe in a small village and managed to steal over 10 figures of terrorist money and transfer them to a hidden account. He then manages to secure transport back to the US under false papers, only to find that Jonathon and Elen have been killed and their home destroyed in a supposed home-terrorist incident. However, Mike knows this is Forrest and Holloway's work, and vows to find them and make them pay.

He soon rescues a businessman named Devon Stone from a group of kidnappers, and shortly after rescues his teenage daughter Melanie as well. Although he doesn't accept any form of payment from him, Devon says he will remember him.

After finding intel on Benson's hiding place, Shadow is close to capturing him when he is shot and left for dead by his troops. Benson moves on to hide, but is unable to contact Forrest of Holloway as they have all cut ties and contact. Shadow soon awakes in a lush hospital unit of a mansion, finding out he was saved by Devon. Devon reveals he is the CEO of a major enterprise company with many areas and operations, and that after being inspired by the selfless and profitless act of courage of saving his daughter, he wants to help him out.

After watching TV, Shadow gets the idea to not just be a person, but to have an organisation. Something to legitimise his operations. He tells Devon that after being inspired by Knight Rider, he aims to start a non-profit organisation with the purpose of helping those in need, upholding the law but going around it when the situation calls for it, with the overall goal of making sure that good and truth will prevail. He also aims to use it to help gather intel on finding Forrest and Holloway. Devon and he name the organisation the Volatile Situation, Specialised Expermination Intelligence Agency (or V.S.S.E), and he decides on his new name to go with this face. He chooses Michael Knight the Third.

Encounter with NCIS:

Over the next 5 years, Michael Knight uses his VSSE agency to save hundreds of innocent lives, from small scale town trouble to averting international disasters. His travels take him all over the world. He doesn't do anything for a price, just for any information on Forrest of Holloway, or to make sure the good always prevails. He also helps Devon and Stone Industries as an Independent Security Consultant for any jobs which they ask for help as a thank you.

6 months before 'Damned if You Do', Mike was in Prague, Czech Republic. He rescued 6 year old Amy Valencia from kidnappers at the Hotel Royale in the city before she could be handed over to their leaders. Fortunately, his tactics meant that an uncontrollable fire ignited by Thermite had started in a bin outside the hotel, and the place had to be evacuated by police. Upon discovering the kidnappers in a bloodbath, the group is swiftly arrested and Mike returns Amy to her parents in Switzerland.

It is revealed that one of the kidnappers was a former US Marine named Craig Sanderson. This brought in the attention of NCIS in Prague, who upon seeing CCTV surveillance of the area that Mike had followed the dead men into the hotel room, and left before the bodies were discovered. His face being seen by CCTV and a still of his car, a Shelby Mustang GT500KR (modified of his own design), he becomes a wanted man for crimes he didn't commit.

Finding out NCIS has but a 'WANTED' sticker on him, he makes his way back home and starts digging. However, by this time, he has found out that Forrest has been spotted by CIA operatives in Washington. He knows that if the CIA get to Forrest, they'll kill him. But if he can get there first, he can use Forrest to bring down the CIA. He gets close to finding Forrest, but he can't get him as he is one person. He realises he needs help.

Around this time, NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs comes under scrutiny from the DIA. Mike follows this event, and discovers the CIA are also involved here, having killed a politician and allowed everyone to believe Ilan Bodner was responsible. Realising the CIA have wrong them as well, which places them on common ground, Mike decides to approach the Washington MCRT.

After Anthony DiNozzo, Ziva David and Timothy McGee resign to save Gibbs from the investigator, Mike arranges for them to meet him in an alley. He informs them of his plan to bring down the CIA, and offers them the chance to help save Gibbs life. He offers them a job to help him so he'll help them.

Current Location:

He is based out of a woodland farmhouse outside of Washington of 6 acres of land. The 3 storey house has 3 large barns on its grounds, and Mike uses this as the main headquarters of VSSE. The grounds are heavily fortified to defend and repel invaders by air and ground. He also has multiple safe houses of varying size, style and location scattered around the US and some in other countries, all of them labelled as VSSE Safe Houses and Forward-Operations-Units. The exact number is unknown.

Next Steps:

After recruiting Former NCIS Agents DiNozzo, David and McGee, Mike intends to go after Forrest again in the hope of bringing down the CIA and taking revenge for them trying to kill him. But he also intends to keep him promise and help save Agent Gibbs life.


	3. Old Friends, New Faces

Light fills a brightening room, as an old, weary, tired set of eyes slowly emerge from hiding behind the eyelids of the man who slowly awakens. They adjust so there isn't just a blurry vision of the surroundings. As they blink, the man slowly gets a clearer picture of his surroundings.

NCIS Special Agent Gibbs is lying in a small bedroom, face up at the ceiling, the old fashioned wooden ceiling. The room is a cream white, with very little in the way of luxuries. Just a bed lying under a window, a chair in the corner and a sink and mirror on the wall the door is opposite the mirror on the far wall. Gibbs tries to get up, but winces as he flops back down the 4 inches to the bed. He realises he is in a lot of pain. He pushes through, and pulls himself upright onto the bed, swinging his legs left to he ends up sitting staring at the mirror on the wall. He looks up and sees himself badly beaten. He has a large plaster on his forehead, his right arm is in a cast. He sees bandages around his left arm and both legs. He looks like he'd been in an explosion. Well, ANOTHER explosion.

He slowly pulls himself up to stand on his legs, and hobbles over to lean on the sink as he looks deeply into the mirror. He saw the broken man that was himself, but he couldn't work out how he got like this. After a few minutes of staring into the mirror, he then turned his attention to where the hell was he?! He turned and looked out of the window, expecting to see a city block he'd recognise. But he didn't. In fact he didn't see anything other than clear blue sky. He hobbled over and took a closer view. All he could see was trees and forest for miles. He seemed to be in the countryside.

There was a metal clang, as the lock on the door turned, and the door opened. Gibbs turned not knowing who to expect, he tensed up. Then to his astonishment, Anthony DiNozzo Jr walked through the door, wearing a blue shirt, jeans and carrying a food tray. He looked at Gibbs, and the sound on his voice said he wasn't at all surprise by this. "Good to see you up and about…Jethro."

{Foom}

Gibbs slowly turned to look fully at him. "Tony?" "What year is it?" "Gibbs looked at him confused. "What?" "The date." "It's 2013. I don't know what day it is, cause i don't know how long i've been out." "Well, glad to see you remember me. That was quite a bang to the head you took. Was worried it might have had similar problems to when you were in the explosion on the ship years ago. When you thought you were still a Gunny in Desert Storm." "What's going on here? Where am I?" "We're about 30 miles from Washington city limits, far into the countryside. What's going on…is you are here to recover." Tony placed the tray down on the bed and from under the bed pulled a first aid kit. He pulled a fresh sling bandage and started to wrap it around Gibbs neck to put his arm in. "What's the last thing you remember?" Gibbs tried to think back, but his head was hurting him. He saw flashes of him crawling through a warehouse, reaching for a sniper rifle and pointing it out the window. But he couldn't remember any more. Tony finished tying up the sling. "Alright, well lets go see some familiar faces." He then led Gibbs out the door.

They walked down the stairs to the ground floor level. Down into the living room, where sitting on the 2-seat sofa, with her legs crossed and a laptop on her lap, Ziva David was busy working when she saw them walk in. She quickly moved the laptop to the coffee table in front of her and jumped up, to show her wearing black trousers and her usual tight fitting blue t-shirt which snugly fit and defined her curves. "Ziva?" Gibbs said. "Hello, Gibbs." "The both of you…here working together?" "Not just us." Tony quietly said. "When Gibbs turned to look at him, emerging from the door at the other end of the room, Tim McGee walked in holding a coffee cup and some files. He initially turned and looked at Ziva, but before he could speak he saw Gibbs, who turned and met his eyes. "Hi, boss. Glad to see your up." "I'm not your boss anymore, McGee." Tim changed his expression to a confused but relieved one. "So, you remember…" Tony finished his sentence. "He knows who we are, he knows he's an NCIS agent but he doesn't remember anything from the last few days."

Gibbs looked around. Here was his old team, still working together, and for once, they seemed to be more in the know than he was. "DiNozzo…" He said wearily. "What is going on here?" DiNozzo then stepped forward and snapped.

"I'll tell you exactly what's going on. After Parsons came at you, it became apparent the only way out was to make sure Parsons had nothing to go against you with. So we all agreed to accept responsibility for the charges and resigned. But it seems you have a reputation." Ziva then jumped in. "After we left, Agencies and law enforcement areas weren't very keen to hire people who had just resigned, especially after they learnt we'd worked with you. You've rubbed quite a few people the wrong way." Gibbs tried to argue. "Then why did you do it?" McGee then stood up and joined in. "How many times have you protected us? Gone out of your way to make sure we're alright." Ziva spoke. "We did this on our own, as an act of resentence." "Repentance" Tony quipped. "To save you." "That's when he came to us. A chance for us to do what we do best." Tim spoke up. "He gave us a new base, advanced weapons, futuristic levels of technology we couldn't comprehend at our fingertips, all in the pursuit of justice." Gibbs looked at them all and got angry and confused. "WHO!?" Ziva answered. "Our new boss." Gibbs starred at her. They then heard the creaking of floorboards, and the sound of someone coming down the stairs. A male voice echoed through the doorframe. "So he's awake?" Tony responded. "And full of questions." The figure walked into the room. A young man in his mid twenties, athletically built, well defined muscles, wearing black cargo trousers and a red t-shirt which defined his muscles.

"The legendary Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs." The man said as he walked towards Gibbs to stand a few footsteps from him. "I thought you'd be taller." Gibbs wasn't too happy with this comment. "You already know the members of my team." This took Gibbs as a shock. "Your team?" "Yes. I took them in. Made them an offer. Gave them a purpose." "And who are you exactly?" The man smiled wryly. "Oh, I have a lot of names. And a lot of stories to go with those names." He walked past Gibbs towards the center of the room, by the coffee table. "But those are in the past, and today, here…" he slowly turned to meet Gibbs eyes. "…my name is Michael Knight."

{Foom}

Mike walked from the living room into the kitchen, followed by Gibbs. Tony, Tim and Ziva followed behind. They all spread around the room. Gibbs natural desire for answers kicked in. "So what's your story?" Mike grabbed a mug and poured himself some coffee as he spoke.

"I started out in life in orphanages. Didn't suit me well. When I was a young boy, I was adopted by two people who turned out to be CIA agents, part of a radical plan codenamed 'Operation: Bluemoon.' Inspired by Eli David and Ziva actually. Essentially they took young children and raised them to be master spies, counterintelligence and counterterrorism specialists. They chose those with natural skills and helped develop them. In my case it was incredible luck, skill and quick thinking. After the CIA I was assigned to the Army, Delta Force to be specific. Joined a team as an agency operative in training, helped them to realise their true potential, we became one of the finest Delta teams around."

"So what happened?"

"Administration, like always. New bosses didn't like the idea of the project. Said it had far too many ethical issues. So the project leaders decided to scrap it, run before they ended up dead or in prison. Destroyed any files, extracted the money from the budgets and killed the people involved. They killed everyone else who came from the project. My friends. Family. I was the only one they couldn't reach so easily. I was deployed in the Middle East. So they leaked my teams location to insurgents. Tried to wipe me out by RPG fire. Took me a while but i made my way home to the US. Found out that as part of the cleanup, they'd destroyed my home. Made it look like part of a bombers streak, but I knew." Mike stopped as in his mind, he could see the burning pile of rubble that was once his house, pieces of his home scattered across the street, in gardens, cars, trees and all over the road.

Gibbs was stood still, staring at Mike listening to this hard-to-believe story. "I still don't get how you got here." Mike smiled. He put his coffee mug on the counter. "Follow me." He led them all out another door into the hallway corridor which led parallel to the living room towards the stairs and front door. just outside the door to the kitchen stood a wooden table up against the wall, with keys, letters and a lamp on it. Just next to the lamp on the wall was a light switch blanking plate with a small black circle in the middle. Mike waved his hand over it once, and as he did, a section of the wall next to the table, the size and shape of a door, split. Two square pieces, one going up, one going down, revealing a circular room with nothing inside. An elevator. Mike led them inside as he continued explaining.

"The safehouse i raided in Afghanistan had lots of financial data, including banking information. Accounts with millions of US dollars in them. I took the money, and used it for the greater good." Once they were all in, the doors closed and lights filled up revealing a tube the size of the room going upwards. The floor lifted, and the elevator raised towards the attic of the house. There was no roof doors, so once the elevator floor met the attic floor, everyone disembarked. The room was shrouded in darkness. There was a glow from a desk in the centre, from a computer monitor on standby. Mike walked over and tapped a button on the keyboard. The whole room them lit up, revealing an entire squad room filled with computers, a weapons locker, a science lab. On the far wall opposite the main desk, the wall lit up the same as the monitor, revealing it to be one giant touch screen computer monitor. Ziva, Tony and McGee walked to various points around the room, and stood, then they all looked at Gibbs, who had only just stepped off the elevator floor. He was amazed at what he was seeing. "Welcome to V.S.S.E." Mike said.

Gibbs looked around the room. It was incredible. Mike spoke as Gibbs walked around the vast room. "I spent the next 5 years travelling around the world, helping those in need. Challenging the cause of the innocent, the helpless and the powerless. But all the while, hunting for the three people who masterminded this conspiracy." He tapped a button on the keyboard, and three profile pictures came up on the main screen. Two men in military uniform and a woman in civilian clothing. "Sergeant Franklin Benson, our Drill instructor at the agency, Lieutenant General Derek Forrest, Commander of Delta Force and our operations leader. And the woman who spearheaded the whole project. Dr Katrina Holloway." Gibbs turned and faced Mike. "Sound like you're out for vengeance, using a legitimate operation for your own ends." Mike instantly repelled this. "Well, you would recognise that, wouldn't you?" Mike and Gibbs eyes met in a stare down. Tony stepped forward. "Alright that's enough." He said.

Gibbs looked at him still in confusion. "What does this have to do with me?" "Mike answered. "Well to answer that, we need to start at the beginning. 6 months ago, JSOC got a lead on a former US operative recruiting his own private militia. They didn't have any photos, but they had actionable intel that he was operating out of a former Army base in a cave in Afghanistan. Formerly known as Site Hotel Bravo. Abandoned due to local insurgents in the area. They recovered intel that this militia had ties to terrorism in the US, and decided to send a team in to take the base down. You were part of that team." Gibbs remembered the rocky mountainous Afghan terrain as he moved from position to position to cover the assault team.

"I remember…they were under heavy fire…" Tony spoke up. "Your team was out gunned and outmanned in every way. But they pushed through. Till the commander of the base ordered a bombing run with his own men and yours still inside." Gibbs remembered listening to a radio intercept. 'This is Golden Eagle. Initiate Directive One-One-Six Bravo. Danger Close.' Then the sounds of jet aircraft flying low overhead on bombing runs. "They…barely managed to get out alive." Ziva picked up where Tony left off.

"The leader made his escape via the water in the caves. She picked up some large A4 photos of the desk shes next to and passes them to Gibbs. "Satellite images show a Zodiac leaving the base along the river before meeting a helicopter and leaving the area." Mike carried on. "You didn't get a shot of who you were after. Or so you think." He tapped his screen and the large screen changed from the photos to a video feed. The image was green showing night vision, and was of a cave. Tim spoke up as the footage played. "This footage was taken by the camera of one of the members of the assault team." Gibbs turned and asked. "Wait a minute, how the hell did you get hold of this?! This is supposed to be classified material!" "Mike simply shrugged. "I met a soldier in a bar." Ziva's eyes lit up. "When was this?" She asked in her innuendo voice. "Strictly professional." Mike said as he shut her down.

They all turned to the footage. After a few seconds, McGee using his computer froze the image and digitally enhanced a section revealing a older man in army uniform being escorted down a path by armed guards. "Using archived voice logs and intercepted radio transmissions…" the screen showed the workings as two voice wavelengths were matched. "…we can match the voice…to the face…" the screen then showed the wavelengths then being analysed and matched to the photo of the mystery man. "…to the name." The screen then showed a match to a photo in the Army database, and gave a name. 'Forrest, Derek. U.S Army.' Gibbs looked as he drew the same conclusion as Mike spoke. "We're hunting the same man."

{Foom}

Gibbs is sitting downstairs in the kitchen, staring into the cup of coffee that sits on the table in front of him. This is a lot for him to take in. He still cannot fully remember what happened and how he ended up here. As he tries to think back, all he can remember is him in a warehouse looking down the sights of a sniper rifle. But he can't quite see who or what it is he's aiming at. Ziva walks in from the corridor, carrying the first aid kit. She sits down on the chair next to Gibbs, and opens the kit on the table. "We need to change that bandage." She then starts to replace the bandage on Gibbs forehead. Gibbs tries to make conversation. Something he's never been good at. That said, this was one of the first times his team had been more in the know about things than he was.

"Why are you here, Ziva? Why did you take this job?" Ziva removed the bandage on his head, and as she soaked a cotton ball with cleaning agent and started cleaning the bloody wound, the answered. "When I left NCIS, i felt like there wasn't anything for me. My father was dead. I had no family to speak of. I couldn't go back to Mossad because…the last time I did I ended up in a hole in Africa. For the last few years, this has been my home. You, Abby, McGee, Ducky, Palmer and Tony have been my family. And when I lost that…for the first time, I realised that i had very little. I realised how the choices I'd made in my life…the decisions made for me. How they'd made me into the person I am. So then Michael offered me the chance to be with my family again…i couldn't refuse."

"But why did you leave in the first place." Ziva put the fresh bandage in her hands down, and focused on this moment. "You and I…have always had a…special connection. Ever since that moment in your basement with Ari. You have been like a father to me for so long. Better than my own father, who abandoned me and left me for dead. You have saved me from danger so many times. This seemed to be my chance…to return the favour. To save you. And if i had to do it again…I would. Because I owe you." Gibbs smiled as Ziva put the fresh bandage on his cut. He then turned the conversation.

"So what is this place? Why here?" "It serves as our office, and our home. We still have our apartments in the city, but Mike offered us a room here so we could be ready at a moments notice. It's much bigger than the house. Come. I'll show you around." Ziva then closed the first aid box, and led Gibbs out the front door. There was a good clear stretch of fresh grass around the house. There were signs of multiple vehicles on the ground, leaving from the road to the right, past the house to a large farm warehouse structure. Ziva led Gibbs there. As they moved past the house, Ziva pointed behind it to two more identical structures as the one they were approaching, though those two were larger.

"Michael keeps a wide variety of vehicles here for whatever purpose we may need them. He have two helicopters back there, and this is our garage." The large door was open, like a up-and-over garage door. As they walked in, Gibbs took in the wide variety of vehicles here. They were parked backwards side by side along each wall, with enough space between for easy access. He had a couple of simple sedans, a large Ford F-350 pickup with the tail cover section, and F-150 with all the roll bar and lights equipped. He also had on old Dodge Challenger, some foreign 2-door sports cars and a few motorcycles. There was even a large box-truck in the corner. Tony was working on the green and black Challenger with the bonnet up when he saw them enter. He leant up from under the hood to reveal the spark-plug wrench in his hand. Gibbs stood in the centre and turned in circles looking at the wide selection of vehicles. "You can use all of these?" "Tony smiled. "All but one..." He turned and pointed to the back end of the room, where in the centre on an elevated workramp, stood tall a stealth black Ford Mustang, sleak and stylish with a bulbar on the front, grills and vents and tinted windows. "It's Mike's personal and favourite car." Tony quipped. "Had it from the beginning, and it's the one he cherishes most." Gibbs takes in the car. There didn't seem to be anything special about it. Guess he'd have to wait. The silence of the room was interrupted by a bleep from a console on the wall. Tony ran over and pushed a button. The small screen lit up, becoming a video link with McGee, who was upstairs in the command centre.

"Tony, Mike wants you guys back at the house." "We're on our way." The link closed.

The five of them were in the living room. Tony and Ziva were on the two piece sofa, Tim was sat on the chair under the window, Gibbs was in the chair next to the coffee table, and Mike was stood up in front of the fireplace. The five of them around the square coffee table. Gibbs was rubbing his sore head, trying to remember. Tony was talking.

"So you remember the assault in Afghanistan?" "Yeah. The mission was nearly failed. We barely got out alive." Mike resumed to fill in the gaps. "But you did get out. And with the intel you managed to pull, you got a lead that you'd find them back in Washington." "Yeah. It took a while to track down, but we ID'ed a warehouse in…Fairfax. Small scale, within a residential neighbourhood. We gathered our resources and decided a covert strike was best." Ziva leaned forward. "What happened next?"

Gibbs tried to speak, but found himself without any words to say as he tried to remember. After a few seconds, he was distracted by a loud alarm. Mike looked up at an amber light flashing in the top corner of the room. "Perimeter breach." Tony, Tim and Ziva jumped up and followed Mike into the hallway to the elevator. Gibbs followed them in confusion and pushed his way into the elevator with them.

When the lift reached the command centre, All but Gibbs spread out. Mike walked to the main desk. Tim went to the desk along the wall to his right, Tony and Ziva went to the two desks either side of the main viewscreen. The three team-members sat down and switched on their computers, whilst Mike put on a headset which went over his right ear with mic, but all Gibbs could do was watch. It hadn't been that long since the team had broken up, but it pleased him to know they still worked fluidly together. Mike activated his computer and spokeout commands. "Display radar." Readout showed a black radar panel with a red blip moving from the bottom left towards the centre. Mike shouted out instructions. "Identify target, and switch to visual matrix." The picture on the main screen changed. The main image showed the whole farm area from a birds-eye view, the house in the middle, the large forest all around and the fields and roads after that.

McGee was typing fast. "Got it. Target is a Bell 206 Longranger. Height is 35ft AGL." "Has it entered Yellow Zone yet?" Tim typed fast. The screen was overlayed by 3 circles of different colour, all with the same centre. The largest was a green circle, encompassing the entire map. The red blip was well into the green circle, so that was the edge of the radar. The second circle was yellow, it emanated from the house and spanned the whole of the wooded areas to the edging fence. The red circle was the smallest, and the radius was from the house a few hundred yards outwards. Tim responded. "Not yet but its getting close." Mike issued orders. "McGee, try and identify where this thing came from. David, put air defences on standby status. DiNozzo, radio the pilot, advise him he's in a no fly zone, he has to turn around." The three set to work. Gibbs walked up to stand beside Mike at the desk. "This sort of thing happen much?"

"No, but I make sure they know what to do in any situation. Make them anticipate. A trait they learnt of you, I'm sure." Gibbs smiled. Tim spoke up first. "Helicopter's got no transponder or numbers on the side. It's completely ghosted." "Not good." Mike muttered. Tony then called out. "Pilot's not responding to audio." Ziva looked at him and pondered a question. "Could it be a frequency malfunction?" Mike gave the answer. "Our equipment is top-of-the-line. The only way he's not receiving is he's ignoring us. Which makes me even more nervous." He then used his right hand to tap the microphone button on his headset. A little green light came on as he did. Mike called out over the radio. "Unidentified helicopter, you are violating restricted airspace. Break off your trajectory and come to course 1-8-0 or you will be treated as hostile." They all watched the main screen as the blip continued on its course straight for the house. "This is your only warning!" The helicopter did not alter its course. They watched as it crossed over the horizon from Green zone into Yellow. Tim called out as he crossed the threshold.

"He's in the Yellow!" Mike blipped the button turning his microphone off. He called out and pointed as he issued orders. "McGee, give men visuals. DiNozzo, David. Bring air defence weapons online. Deploy SAM turrets, zones 5 and 6."

In the forest surrounding the house, Surface-to-Air Missile turrets emerged from hiding in the trees and from hidden zones underground.

The quarter quadrant of the map where the helicopter was had been focused to display on the screen at Mike's desk, so he could see the action zone. Smaller screens around the room turned on with live feeds from cameras in the area which were showing the helicopter from different angles. "Prepare SF wave." Gibbs got up in his face. "Wait, you gonna shoot them down!?" Mike turned to face him, looking him in the eyes and explained. "Standard air defence strategy. Each turret has six standard Surface-to-Air Missiles…and one Smokey." He turned to his monitor and called out. "Status?" Ziva and Tony called out in response. "Smokey SAMs ready for launch." "On your mark." Mike watched his screen as the helicopter kept coming. He waited a few seconds, then called out. "FIRE!"

Two Smokey SAMs launched from two salvos, and flew towards the helicopter. The helicopter took evasive action to avoid the two missiles, though he didn't know they were fakes. He pulled left to avoid incoming. Everyone watched as he moved, then adjusted his course, to head straight for the house again. Mike tilted his head left. It was clear this guy wasn't an easy quitter. "DiNozzo, switch to live rounds. Fire one shot straight at him, detonate two seconds before impact." Tony worked his computer until a few seconds, later, it gave a quick tone indicating it was set. "Ready." He said. "Fire!" Mike called.

The live missile launched from the salvo, and this time once it was above the trees, locked on and went straight for the helicopter. Within seconds, it was aiming straight for the helicopter. Tony watched the radar on his screen and the timer in the bottom corner, counting down the time till impact. When the timer read 2 seconds, with the quick reflexes that served him so well in football and as a cop, he pushed the SHIFT key on his keyboard, and the missile blew up in mid air. The explosion shook the helicopter, sending it off to the left, with shrapnel going through the engine intakes. Mike watched a screen on the wall as a camera showed smoke starting to pour out of the engines.

"Fire another one, and Tony…" Tony looked back at Mike. "…tap on his window." Tony nodded in understanding. He tapped his keyboard a few times, then hit enter. A second SAM launched from the salvo, and once again fired at the helicopter. This time, it went up to it, but at the last second, pulled left and moved up alongside, 2 metres from the copter. When the missile was level with the cockpit, Tony hit self-destruct, so the explosion shook it, with more shrapnel hitting the sides, windows and also going into the intakes. The pilot adjusted the heading, taking the smoking helicopter back away from the house as fast as it could go. Everyone was watching on their screens.

"He's retreating." Ziva said. Mike took off his earpiece, and took a breath in, he wasn't done. "Ziva, access ATC, get a lock on that chopper. I wanna know where it's going and when it lands." Ziva started working at her computer. "DiNozzo, mount up. We're going after it." Tony ran from his computer to the wardrobe and armoury on the back wall and started getting ready. "McGee, start scanning the system for intrusion. I wanna know of any breaches. The only reason that copter came at us like this is…" "It's testing out defences." "Gibbs spoke up. "Or distracting you." Mike carried on. "Go through surveillance and radar. I wanna know about any breaches. I want you to check, recheck and then do it all over again." "Yes boss." Mike then walked over to the armoury and removed a jacket from the clothing area. It was a white fleece like jacket with red striping, elasticised wrists and big letters reading 'V.S.S.E' on the back. Tony was now wearing a similar jacket, only in Blue and Silver. Mike grabbed a SIG Sauer P226 Elite Dark with tactical light, and put it in the holster built into the inside of the jacket. Tony grabbed a sawnoff-shotgun with ammo-rail on top. As the two went to leave, Gibbs was blocking their way. It was obvious he was going too. After a few seconds of staring, Mike relented as he realized time was short. He pulled another P226 with holster, and gave it to Gibbs. "Come on." He said. They all ran over to the elevator.

In the garage, the door opened fully. They all headed for the Mustang on the ramps. Tony opened the passenger door, which opened scissor-style, and let Gibbs get into the back. Tony then moved the seat and sat in the passenger whilst Mike took the drivers seat. He inserted the key and started the engine with a roar. The whole windscreen then lit up, as a Virtual Heads-Up-Display kicked into life. The words 'Laser Restraint Active' read on the screen. Mike pushed the automatic gearbox into drive. "Hold on." He said as the car took off like a rocket. Within seconds, the car was out the door, past the house and racing up the path to the street. Gibbs found himself straining from the inertia, but after a few seconds, was about to pull himself straight. Tony was similarly afflicted, but they both noticed Mike wasn't fazed. Mike simply smiled. "You get used to it."

The Mustang raced along the road, heading parallel to fields. Inside the car, the glove box opened and a draw inside automatically slid out. On the tray were many things, including two small devices which looked like the rubbers of earbuds. They were a new version of Earwigs. Tony picked them up, passed one to Mike and they both put then in their right ears. Mike then called out. "Ziva, are we close?" The V-HUD popped up, showing the angle from the web-cam on Ziva's computer. They were looking straight at her. "Just about. Take this next dirt road on the left." Mike looked through the screen ahead of the car. He saw the road. "Got it." He swerved the car into the road and along the dirt track. Ziva spoke up. "Air Traffic Control showed the helicopter dropping off the mark within a quarter mile radius of there. Based on last known speed and trajectory, you should find them within the next half mile on the left." "The screen when split-screen as Ziva's window shrunk and McGee's came up to make two same size vid links. "Boss. Ran a check through the surveillance system. Doesn't look like there's been a breach, but I've got a program bot running to check for a hack." Tony interrupted. "There's the chopper." He calls out and points to a cloud of smoke pouring out of a field ahead on the left. Mike minimized the vid link on their end, and took a sharp left into a wooden fence and hedge line. The mustang slammed straight into it, and went clean through the other side.

The car cut across the field following the smoke to its source, the helicopter, crashed into a crater. McGee and Ziva watched the feed from their computers. The mustang roared up to the impact zone, and stopped a hundred metres from the copter. Before the car had stopped, Mike and Tony's doors were open and they were out. Gibbs scrambled to move Tony's seat forward to get out and help. Mike and Tony had their weapons drawn and swept the helicopter. But there was no-one there.

The left cockpit door was on the floor, having obviously been kicked off. With no-one around, Mike lowered his weapon in frustration. He called out. "There's no-one here Ziva. You got anything?" "Negative. If there was someone there, they must have had a backup vehicle waiting for them." Tony was examining the ground. "No signs of any tyre tracks." "Well, if there was another helicopter, it had its transponder removed as well, I've got nothing here." McGee came on over the radio. "Boss, finally got a hit on the helicopter. Was reported stolen 5 hours ago from a helicopter flight training school in Delaware. Metro Police found the transponder tracked the transponder, found it dumped with a battery connected in Baltimore."

Tony then spoke up. "So whoever did this…stole a helicopter, removed the numbers, wired the transponder with a battery to emit a signal, and flew hundreds of miles to get to us." Gibbs had walked up to Mike. "Something's way wrong here. Who are these guys?" Mike looked around at the copter in the empty field, and could only say one thing. "I don't know. But something tells me…this isn't over."

{Foom}


	4. Coming Soon

Coming up:

Dawn:

The V.S.S.E Team: Mike, Tony, Tim and Ziva, plus the still amnesiac Gibbs, must work to uncover who launched the attack on the base and how this relates to Gibbs JSOC assignment. Also, Gibbs talks to both Tim and Tony about their decision to resign to save him, and Mike reveals more about how his past links with the case…

Stories that will follow:

Midnight:

Gibbs is back at NCIS minus his team, but has bigger problems to worry about. He is assigned to assist an investigation in Europe of a multiple homicide at a hotel, and must subtly delay the investigation once he learns the identity of the prime suspect: Michael Knight!

Flight of Fury:

After intercepting a planes disappearance, Mike soon finds a crash site, but learns it might be a diversion. He and the NCIS team are soon on the trail of a kidnapped boy-genius which involves his Marine father, a missing drug shipment and an extremely pissed off cartel leader. But Mike must also deal with a DEA agent who soon arrests him for interference.

Body and Mind:

NCIS investigate the death of a Marine Gunny Drill Instructor who earned a lot of enemies as a result of his training methods. Also, Mike has trouble adjusting not only to the idea of working as part of a team again, but in finding his place within the MCRT.

**Authors note: Please review the works so far, as I am interested in opinions. Also, if you have any ideas about possible storylines or character developments, please don't hesitate to comment. Thanks and Enjoy.**


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